Episode 70: Etgar Keret and the Art of the Short Story

Naor Meningher and Eytan Weinstein

5 months ago

Size matters. Or so, at least, we’ve been told from the moment we were born: the tallest guy gets the glory on the basketball courts at school; The longest thesis at the university class stands for the quality of research and work that was put into it; A filmmaker can make 50 short films but he’ll never make it if he hasn’t made a Feature. And then there’s literature: Ulysses, War and Peace, and even the Lord of the Rings trilogy – all stand for the concept of size as a quality stamp.

Etgar Keret’s career, however, has been proving just the opposite. For 30 years Keret has been focusing mainly on short stories, and it’s safe to say that his technique and unique style has contributed a lot to the reshaping of short storytelling as an art form.

Keret’s one of the most translated Israeli writers. His books have been translated to 37 languages. His short stories were adapted to international productions, like “Wristcutters” or the stop animation film 9.99$.

Keret has published 13 books, including short stories books, comics, graphic novels, and even children’s books. He won many awards, among which the Knight Medallion for Literature in France. His debut feature film, that he co-created with his wife Shira Geffen, was awarded the Golden Camera in the Cannes film festival. And now a new documentary film about him is being released.